Ahmedabad, India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, favorite to win a third term despite accusations of exacerbating religious polarization, voted this Tuesday in the country’s general elections, held in different phases over several weeks.
Surrounded by security personnel and followers, the 73-year-old leader voted in Ahmedabad, in his home state of Gujarat, where he began his political career and of which he was chief minister three times.
Analysts already considered him the winner before the start of these elections organized in seven stages between April 19 and June 1, with 968 million citizens called to vote in the most populous country in the world.
His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys wide popularity after two terms in which India has gained diplomatic and economic weight on the international stage.
With Modi at the helm, appealing to the religious fiber of the Hindu electorate, the BJP won two landslide victories in 2014 and 2019.
Although he is participating in Ahmedabad, Modi presented his candidacy in Varanasi, the ancient Benares, a sacred city of Hinduism in the state of Uttar Pradesh. This constituency will not vote until the last phase of the elections, June 1.
#Indian #votes #general #election
– 2024-05-08 01:39:21
